Storymaker #3

Another spread and another wildcard system to experiment with. While I haven’t played it in some time, since I’ve been doing the superhero journaling experiment, I opted to chose the Valiant Universe RPG system.

Hook – Ruins
Shadowrun – Probably the most famous of all ruins in the Shadowrun setting, I opted to go for the Chicago Containment Zone (CZ).
7th Sea – There are no shortage of deserted cities in the declining Tzak K’ani Empire in the New World, so a hastily abandoned Mayan-style city seemed like a fun choice.
Valiant Universe – While not necessarily a ruin, it is a long time area of mystique and intrigue (I leaned into the “vestige of the past” part), so I opted for Area 51, which is now a base of operation for Project Rising Spirit (PRS) and a site for all sorts of weirdness.

Subject – Supernatural
Shadowrun – There is no shortage of supernatural issues in Chicago, but rather than latch onto the most obvious one, I decided to lean into a more haunted element and have the team working within the Shattergraves, where a new alchera has emerged.
7th Sea – In the void left by the receding Tzak K’ani people, the monsters of legend are moving in. The Camaztoz and Manikin are not ones to leave a city unexploited.
Valiant Universe – The meddling in psiot abilities by the PRS has shattered the reality around Area 51 and a dimensional rift has torn open in the area. It is not clear what lies on the other side of the rift.

Action – Investigate
Shadowrun – Corporate elements in the new Chicago city center are curious about this new alchera, wondering what sort of astral entities might call it home. The team is hired to explore the area and report on their findings.
7th Sea – The chief of a nearby city-state is concerned about the long-abandoned temple city nearest their borders. They have asked the Heroes to visit the old city to try and determine why the previous residents chose to leave their homes.
Valiant Universe – As members of the Harbinger Active Resistance Division (H.A.R.D.) Corps, your team has been dispatched to New Mexico to investigate the rift, determine what caused it, ascertain any threat and, if possible, seal the rift.

Allies – Scholar
Shadowrun – A local CZ street mage and rumored expert on the Shattergraves has been displaced by this new alchera and has been actively studying it already. They are invested in ensuring the area is safe for his neighbors (Free Spirits he has come to know in his time here).
7th Sea – The city-state that requests the Heroes’ aid has a local historian, who knows that the happenings of their neighbor has been lost to time and wishes to correct that fact. She wishes to accompany the Heroes, so she might chronicle the city’s legacy.
Valiant Universe – A former lab tech from Area 51 fled the black site mere moments before the rift was opened. While a little frantic and scattered, they have vital knowledge that could aid the Corps in gaining access to the site.

Threats – Giant
Shadowrun – The alchera seems to open up onto the Plane of Beasts, which for the citizens of the CZ could be a great boon as there is fresh plant life and game to be hunted here. However, one of the great dino-beasts that live on the Isle of Tandora is also free here and the team is forced to deal with a spirit that is something akin, though larger, than a T-Rex.
7th Sea – The Camaztoz that stalk the old city have taken to roosting in the upper reaches of the once-grand temple. These bat-like creatures are large enough to drag off a human being and there are many that have come to call this city home…
Valiant Universe – What can I say… I was in a dino-centric frame of mind… what if the dinosaurs hadn’t been wiped out and had continued to evolve? Think Turok-style cybernetic dinosaurs…

Bonus – Forgotten
Shadowrun – (Subject) It’s the Chicago CZ… the world love to forget what happened here. In addition, almost everyone that thinks of the CZ thinks of the bugs, but never thinks of other issues within the Zone.
7th Sea – (Hook) The Tzak K’ani decline has been ongoing for a while now and this city was abandoned long enough ago, that even their neighbors have begun to forget why it was left.
Valiant Universe – (Allies) Whatever caused the rift to open has done something to the PRS tech’s mind. He switches in and out of living in reality and being elsewhere, so getting him to focus can be a battle.

Shadowrun
The team is hired by a corporate Johnson (Ares) to do a little work in the CZ. Monitoring the Cermak Blast Zone is an ongoing effort, but just beyond that, to the west are the Shattergraves, the former location of the Sears Tower. Recently, magical phenomena have been spotted in the area (that is wholly different from the usual hauntings) and a threat assessment needs to be performed. The team is sent to explore the alchera and determine any sort of threat to the area. The alchera turns into a mixed blessing, as it could help feed the displaced of the CZ, but also threatens to unleash astral predators into the area.

7th Sea
While traveling in the New World, the Heroes find a sprawling city that the locals refer to as K’awiil. The city sits next to a fertile valley, ringed with jungle and seems quite prosperous. The local chief speaks to them about a prophecy of ruin and knows of a city to the west that has been long abandoned, though no scholar seems to know why. He fears this ruin will come from whatever drove the past residents away. He asks the Heroes to investigate the ancient city of Ix Tub Tun to discover the cause of its ruin, so they might avoid the same fate.

Valiant Universe
The H.A.R.D. Corps are diligently working to stop the machinations of Toyo Harada and his Project Rising Spirit. When a rift opened right outside Area 51, the team is deployed to New Mexico to investigate this rift, determine what PRS intends with it and close it (if possible). Rumors of an Area 51 lab tech wandering around Roswell in a haze could prove to be useful, but only if the Corps can get to him first.

~ by 1nsomniac on May 22, 2024.